Business
or pleasure? That's the first question people generally ask
about an upcoming trip. Your answer gives them a reasonable
range of responses, for they understand the parameters associated
with both business trips and pleasurable vacations. On the
other hand, an answer of adoption travel carries no definite
impressions, for it intricately combines business and pleasure
along with international bureaucracy and domestic devotion.
Adoption
travel, traveling internationally to adopt a child, is a growing
route for travelers. According to the U.S. Department of Heath
and Human Services, the availability of newborns in the United
States is diminishing. More than 75 percent of the recently
adopted children in our country came from China, Russia, Guatemala,
South Korea and the Ukraine - five countries that represent
a broad range of conditions, for both travel and adoption.
Traveling
to a foreign land while worrying about the adoption procedures
provides a double-whammy of stress on potential parents. To
alleviate the anxiety from the travel side of the equation,
turn to a member of the American Society of Travel Agents.
Some of the most travel-wise people in the world, ASTA members
know how to prepare practically and mentally for such a life-altering
journey.
The
Travel Side of Adoption Travel
Adoption
travel is an umbrella term for three separate journeys:
the pre-adoption trip, where parents travel to another country
to learn about the culture of the child they are to receive;
the actual adoption trip, where parents meet and take home
a child they've grown to love through pictures; and heritage
trips, where the family re-visits the child's homeland, allowing
the child to understand his or her cultural roots.
Pre-Adoption
Trip: To give an adopted child a sense of their cultural
identity as they grow up, it's essential for parents to form
a relationship with their child's birth country. Reading travel
books is a good start, but experiencing the country firsthand
through a pre-adoption visit creates a superior connection.
Understanding
a foreign culture imparts invaluable insight to parents as
they raise their child, for a day will come when a child asks
about his or her homeland. To completely appreciate a country's
uniqueness, pre-adoption trips should be taken when a parent
can focus on the culture and the people without being preoccupied
with the actual adoption.
Adoption
Trip: Some parents who adopt internationally are provided
the choice of having their child escorted to the United States
or traveling to the country to bring the child home. Travel
agents agree: traveling to the country is best, especially
if the parent was unable to previously explore the country
through a pre-adoption tour.
